1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card adapter for electrically connecting electrical connecting portions of a card-shaped electronic device to contacts in a slot provided in a personal computer or the like for receiving another card-shaped electronic device which is manufactured in accordance with a different standard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A card adapter has been conventionally used, for example, for electrically connecting contacts of a CF (Compact Flash) card which is a card-shaped electronic device smaller than a PC card to contacts in a slot provided in a personal computer for receiving a PC card.
FIG. 17 shows one example of this type of conventional card adapter disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2000-259782.
The card adapter 80 shown in FIG. 17 has a chassis 81 made of resin or the like, a circuit board assembly 82 mounted on the chassis 81, and a pair of conducting plates 83, 83 provided on the upper and lower sides of the chassis 81, respectively.
The chassis 81 has a CF card receiving space 84 for receiving the CF card therein. The circuit board assembly 82 is provided with a first connector 85 to be electrically connected to the contacts (contact pins) provided in the slot for a PC card, a second connector 86 to be electrically connected to the contacts of the CF card, an eject button (eject lever) 87 and an eject arm 88 for ejecting the CF card received in the CF card receiving space 84.
The eject button 87 is disposed in the chassis 81 such that it can be moved along the longitudinal direction of the adapter. The eject arm 88 is pivotably mounted on the circuit board assembly 82 by means of a rotation axis 89. Further, the tip portion of the eject button 87 is linked with one end of the eject arm 88 through a connection 90.
When ejecting the CF card received in the CF card receiving space 84, eject operation is carried out by pushing the eject button 87 into the chassis 81. When the eject button 87 is pushed, the eject arm 88 is rotated about the rotation axis 89, and the other end portion thereof (which is an end portion opposite to the end portion linked with the elect button 87) is moved toward the inside of the CF card receiving space 84, and as a result, the CF card is disconnected from the card adapter 80 by the eject arm 88.
Further, the CF card is provided with grounding contact portions (not shown in the drawing) on the side surfaces thereof for discharging static electricity charged in the CF card, and the chassis 81 is also provided with an electrical path for discharging the static electricity from the grounding contact portion of the CF card to a grounding means of the slot for a PC card.
The electrical path is constructed from an elastic contacting part 91 which elastically contacts with the grounding contact portion of the CF card, a contact part 92 which electrically connects with the grounding means of the slot for a PC card, and the conducting plate 83 which electrically connects the elastic contacting part 91 and the contact part 92.
In the conventional adapter 80 described above, when ejecting the CF card from the CF card receiving space 84, the tip portion of the eject arm 88 pushes the end surface of the CF card as described above. However, since the tip portion of the eject arm 88 has a very small surface area, the eject arm 88 makes a point contact with the CF card, and as a result, the portion on the end surface of the CF card which makes a point contact with the eject arm 88 is easy to be abraded.
Further, the eject arm 88 is constructed so as to push only the left side portion on the end surface of the CF card in FIG. 17. As a result, when an eject operation is carried out, the left side portion of the CF card undergoes a larger displacement than the right side portion. Due to such difference in displacement between the left and right sides, the CF card is inclined in the CF card receiving space 84, and this may cause deformation in second connector terminals 93 connected to the CF card.
Furthermore, in the card adapter 80 having such a structure described above, in the case where the user pulls the CF card out of the card adapter 80 without using the eject button 87, the eject button 87 remains protruded to the outside of the card adapter 80, and this makes it easy for the eject button 87 to be broken by a lateral force.
Moreover, in the case where a Type II CF card is used, because the CF card and a card adapter to be inserted into the slot in a personal computer have the same thickness, it is not possible for the card adapter having such a structure described above to protect the eject arm 88 and the second connector 86 by covering them with the pair of conducting plates 83, thus resulting in the case where the components will be deformed when handled by the user.
In view of the problems described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a card adapter which can reliably and easily connect and disconnect a card-shaped electronic device.
In order to achieve the object mentioned above, the present invention is directed to a card adapter for electrically connecting a plurality of electrical connecting portions of a card-shaped electronic device to a plurality of contacts provided in a slot for receiving another card-shaped electronic device which is manufactured in accordance with a different standard, comprising
a first connector to be electrically connected to the contacts provided in the slot;
a second connector which is electrically connected to said first connector, said second connector being adapted to be connected to the electrical connecting portions of the card-shaped electronic device;
a chassis in which said first and second connectors are disposed;
a push member disposed in said chassis, said push member being movable between a first position in which the electrical connecting portions of the card-shaped electronic device can be connected to said second connector and a second position in which the electrical connecting portions of the card-shaped electronic device are disconnected from said second connector, and said push member being capable of pushing the card-shaped electronic device positioned at said first position toward said second position;
an eject lever movably mounted with respect to said chassis; and
transmission means for transmitting the movement of said eject lever to said push member.
In the present invention described above, it is preferred that said transmission means is rotatably mounted on said chassis by means of a rotation axis, said transmission means being formed into a link arm having one end which is linked with said push member through a first linking part and the other end which is linked with said eject lever through a second linking part so that said push member is interconnected with said eject lever.
As described above, in the card adapter of the present invention, because the push member for pushing a card-shaped electronic device, the transmission member and the eject lever are linked through the first linking part and the second linking part, when one of these three members is displaced, the other two members are also moved. As a result, the card adapter of the present invention makes it possible to easily and reliably connect and disconnect a card-shaped electronic device.
In the present invention, it is also preferred that said push member has both side portions along its width direction, and said card adapter further comprises a biasing means which always bias said side portions of the push member, respectively, from said first position toward said second position, and said push member being adapted to be displaced from said first position toward said second position by the biasing force of said biasing means.
Further, it is also preferred that said rotation axis is integrally formed with said chassis.
In this case, it is preferred that the card adapter further comprises means for preventing said link arm from being disengaged with said rotation axis.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the card adapter further comprises means for restricting a rotation angle of said link arm.
Further, it is also preferred that said first linking part is arranged substantially in a central part of said push member in the width direction thereof.
Furthermore, it is also preferred that said first linking part comprises a projection disposed in either of said link arm or push member and an aperture disposed in the other.
In this case, it is preferred that said aperture is formed into a slit having a width substantially the same as the diameter of the projection so that the projection can move along the slit when the link arm is rotated.
Further, it is also preferred that said link arm is made of a metal plate, and said projection is integrally formed with said link arm by carrying out a burring process to a portion close to said one end of said link arm.
In the present invention, it is preferred that said second linking part comprises a linking protrusion in the other end of said link arm and a linking protrusion receiving hole formed in said eject lever so as to be engaged with said linking protrusion.
In this case, it is preferred that said linking protrusion is formed in the other end of said link arm through a step portion.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the card adapter further comprises means for retaining said push member at said second position when said push member has been moved to said second position.
In this case, it is preferred that said retaining means comprises an elastic member with a locking protrusion which is provided on said push member, and a locking aperture formed in said chassis, wherein said push member is retained at said second position by engagement between the locking protrusion and the locking aperture.
Further, it is also preferred that said locking protrusion is adapted to be shifted by abutment with a side surface of the card-shaped electronic device when the card-shaped electronic device is fitted to the card adapter, and the engagement between the locking protrusion and the locking aperture is disengaged so that said push member becomes displaceable toward the first position from said second position.
Furthermore, it is also preferred that said chassis includes a pair of arms which are spaced apart with each other and extend from portions of the chassis which are located at opposite sides of the second connector, respectively, to define a receiving space for said card-shaped electronic device, in which said eject lever is provided in one of these arms and said elastic member is provided in the other arm.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the push member is formed with a plurality of holes through which contact pins of the second connector protrude.
In this case, it is also preferred that said push member exposes the contact pins of the second connector at said first position and covers the contact pins at said second position.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the card-shaped electronic device is one selected from the group consisting of a semiconductor memory card, an interface card and a hard disk.
Further, it is also preferred that said eject lever is provided with a cap that covers the tip end of the eject lever, and said cap is formed with a guide portion which is in abutment with the side surface of the card-shaped electronic device when the card-shaped electronic device is to be connected to said second connector.
In this case, it is also preferred that the pair of arms includes a long arm and a short arm which is shorter than the long arm, and said eject lever is provided in the short arm.
In the present invention, it is preferred that the push member is adapted to push the card-shaped electronic device with a state that the push member is in a surface contact or multi point contact with the card-shaped electronic device at the both sides from the central portion thereof.
The above and further objects, structures and effects of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the appended drawings.